Giselle

------------

This morning’s announcement of my future spouse brought a lot of fuss and hassle to the castle. And it was so joyful and exciting from this, but on the other hand, I felt some kind of emptiness in my soul. Everything went as I had planned for several years, I enlisted Raphael’s sympathy, but this is just a faceless image, I lacked his warmth next to me, as if we were two lifeless dolls that someone had planted next to and occasionally forced to hold hands.

Should I take the initiative? Is he embarrassed by my mother’s presence here, or does he think that a woman cannot be defamed before the wedding? I considered the latter option more logical and warmth and blush immediately spread across my cheeks.

That’s right, Raphael is too gallant and courteous a man, only for this reason he avoids closer physical contact with me.

I frantically retold to my ladies-in-waiting what had happened in the throne room and we hurried to discuss everything that needed to be done to prepare. The most important thing was to look immaculate and sexy in the eyes of the king. I had already come up with an image, but at the last moment I remembered the dress of Raphael’s mother. I have to see him before we think about the hairstyle and the overall image.

In my heart, I hoped it wouldn’t be a prim, simple dress. Although, probably, his mother was a past queen and her dress should be at least richly decorated, so you should not worry so much about this.

But just in case, I ordered the housekeeper to be brought to me

- Did you call me, milady? – the housekeeper said, bending down and keeping her hands crossed at her waist.

- Yes. His Majesty wants me to wear his mother’s dress at the wedding. – the momentary frown of the woman confused me a little, but I did not attach much importance to it. – Bring me this dress, I want to look at it and try it on.

- Hmm... I... - what is she mumbling there? It’s already annoying. - I’ll get right on it. With your permission.

She bowed again and started backing towards the door, awkwardly, uncertainly and stiffly. Strange. I looked at her, slightly tilting my head to the side and biting the inside of my cheek.

- You don’t have much time, I need a dress for the evening. - I called after her.

- God, everyone in this castle is so weird. – massaging her temple, Monica said.

I nodded in agreement, looking puzzled at the door that had just closed behind the housekeeper. Although the servants already understood my importance in the life of this castle and no one dared to oppose me either verbally or with a glance, I still felt some detachment towards myself and I did not like it. But it’s nothing, in a couple of days everything will change.

I’ll change everything.

And I’ll start with the staff.

I’ll start with the maid, around whom there are so many rumors related to Raphael.

Even if it’s just a rumor, I’ll destroy her, I’ll drive her out, I won’t let her live here.

Satisfied with my plans for the near future, I invited my ladies-in-waiting to take a walk in the garden to kill some time until the evening. Raphael and I won’t be seeing each other for the next two days, so I had to figure out what to do with myself and how to calm the trembling excitement of the upcoming wedding.

***

- It’s getting cold already. – I noted while we were walking among the yellowed trees.

And although the gardener took very good care of the garden, the autumn leaf fall did not make it possible to remove the fallen leaves in a timely manner, and they clung to the hem of my dress, causing me a storm of indignation.

- Here, put this woolen bolero on your shoulders, it’s thin, but it will warm you perfectly, Your Highness. – said the helpful Katie, helping me put on a cape.

- Do you know anything about this girl yet? - I asked my ladies and noticed how they looked at each other.

- Practically nothing. - Monica replied. – She’s like a blank slate. She appeared in the castle a couple of months ago, according to the housekeeper, the king picked her up on the street and helped her. She was given a job as a maid, but he is completely incompetent and constantly gets into trouble, Scarlett says. Also, after a week of staying in the castle, a neighbor was evicted from her and a whole room remained at her disposal, which suggests that the king is making allowances for her. But more than that, there was also a curious incident when she was attacked by an animal and the king himself came to help her. The servants say that he picked her up in front of everyone and took her somewhere. And perhaps these rumors about their close relationship have reason to be true.

- Shut up. I hissed, not hiding my disgust.

Just the thought that she was in Raphael’s favor raised the darkest desires in me. She may have been born with a pretty face, but this does not give her any more advantages, and even if she caught the king’s eye, I will quickly break this connection.

Calming down a little, I ordered Monica to continue her report.

- She has a friend in the castle. Also a maid. The most ordinary, unremarkable girl but absolutely not contact. It would be possible to try to find out something from her, but it seems that they have become very friendly and it does not look very possible.

- Have you tried paying her? - I asked. - All beggars are greedy for money. They’ll even sell their own mother, it’s obvious.

- Not yet, Your Highness, but I will definitely try to find an approach to this friend of hers. - Katie replied.

- Well, so be it. Do it as unobtrusively as possible, so that nothing points to me. By the way, where is my mother now?

- The last time I saw her with the butler, they were walking towards the kitchen.

She must not have given up on the idea of overseeing our wedding after all. Well, it doesn’t give me any pleasure to do all this, so her pedantry is most welcome right now.

In the morning, when everyone left, I stayed in the throne room with Raphael for a while longer and I didn’t have the opportunity to talk to my mother face to face, and meanwhile there is less and less time left until Day X. My head is spinning, I’m afraid to stumble and make a mistake. Everything should go perfectly.

I felt so ambiguous, like all thoughts should be only about the wedding, but I couldn’t get Monica’s words out of my head. I still didn’t have a puzzle in my head, why would Raphael rush the wedding day so much if he had a crush on this worthless girl?

Usually, if a king takes a mistress, he does not pay due attention to his queen, despite the mandatory visiting days when they are obliged to fulfill their marital duty. And yet, is he really so sexually insatiable that he is ready to respect two women at the same time? And did he have something with this maid? Had he touched her?

I clenched my fists so tightly that I was brought out of oblivion by painful sensations when my nails pierced my palms until they bled.

I grinned at myself, not understanding what I was getting into. Either I am doomed to put up with his mistresses, or I invent a lot of extra things for myself. And this two-day abstinence is not by the way. Well, no, I haven’t seen him for three days before, can I afford a little obstinacy, right?